DOXA SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl Review

It’s no secret that just about everyone loves a good dive watch. More often than not, every watch collectors first watch will tend to be a dive watch or a watch heavily influenced by the dive watch style. In the early 1950s Blancpain and Rolex created the dive watch with the Fifty Fathoms and Submariner respectively. Since the release of those two watches along with the boom in recreational underwater exploration, dive watches have now become the most popular style of watch.

If you take a look at almost any large brand or micro brand you’ll see a watch that represents the Fifty Fathoms or more so the Submariner. Dive watches are typically characterized by their large and chunky stainless steel cases, 60 minute rotating dive bezels and easy to read dials. For the most part 70 years later most dive watches still have a strong resemblance to the original Blancpain and Rolex watches.



One watch brand that did not simply copy Blancpain or Rolex and forged their own path in dive watches was DOXA. Doxa was founded by Georges Ducommun in the Jura Valley of Switzerland in 1889. Early on DOXA was well known for creating an eight day caliber in 1908 and also for producing chronographs and various waterproof watches.

DOXA really took off when they launched their SUB dive watch in 1967 though. DOXA like other brands in the mid 20th century witnessed the explosion in recreational diving and wanted to be a part of the movement. They found a perfect partner to help design their dive watch in legendary diver Jacques Cousteau and his US Divers Co.



Cousteau brought invaluable insight to the design of the SUB that would best suit a serious diver. The original SUB featured a bright Orange bezel which provided the best contrast for low visibility dives and featured an enlarged minute hand to help track dives. Another first for a dive watch was the no-decompression dive table bezel which allowed divers to calculate their dives with no need for decompression stops. Also found in the SUB was a helium release valve that turned out to be a crucial feature for saturation divers.

One defining design element of the DOXA SUB was its case shape. Unlike the round dive watches of the time, the DOXA SUB had a cushion shaped design. The cushion design not only gives the SUB a very distinctive look, but also helps the rather large watch wear small. The original DOX SUB was over 40 mm, but wore much smaller due to the lugs essentially being part of the case.



Throughout the years, DOXA has continued to evolve the SUB line and in 1997 released the SUB 300. The SUB 300 captured the hearts of a new generation of watch enthusiasts and to this day is the most popular collection in DOXA’s portfolio. The SUB 300 kept the defining aspects of the original SUB and modernized them for today’s collector.

In 2020 DOXA made a giant leap forward in the SUB 300 range by releasing a limited edition Aqua Lung edition made out of forged carbon. Forged carbon has been a popular choice with watch brands due to its extremely lightweight yet very durable nature. Following the release of the Aqua Lung, DOXA then in 2021 released a set of non-limited edition forged carbon SUB 300 Carbons in various colors. 2022 saw the brand release the watch we’re looking at today, the DOXA SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl. While similar to the other carbon releases, the Whitepearl featured a white dial fully covered by Super-Luminova to provide a fully lumed dial.



When the SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl arrived from DOXA, the first thing I noticed about the watch was the size of the dial. I had seen tons of pictures and videos of the SUB 300 over the years, but hadn’t really handled one before. Typically I only wear watches over 42 mm, so I thought I knew what to expect from the SUB 300 and its 42.5 x 45 mm case in terms of dial size.

What I didn’t take into account in my mind was that the dual scaled bezel on the SUB 300 takes up a lot of case real estate, also the very domed nature of the sapphire crystal gives an optical illusion of the dial seeming smaller than it is. I actually have a new Certina DS Super PH1000M STC sitting on my desk which is only 1 mm larger in case diameter, yet the dial looks so much larger. When I measured both dials, the SUB 300 had a 27 mm dial, while the DS Super PH1000M STC had a 27.5 mm dial. The more traditional bezel along with the flatter sapphire gives the Certina an appearance of a much larger dial than the DOXA. After some time, the dial size and look of the SUB 300 started to grow on me though.



The next thing that caught my attention about the SUB 300 Whitepearl was the look of the forged carbon case. I’ve owned and been around a lot of carbon fiber and forged carbon watches, but the pattern of the carbon on the Whitepearl is just stunning. The contrast between the white (lumed) dial and the case is so strong it really makes the carbon standout. I wish DOXA would have shipped me the Whitepearl on the white rubber strap, I feel like it really would have made the forged carbon stand out even that much more.

The last thing that I took away from my initial thoughts about the DOXA SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl was the weight of the watch. I’m used to carbon watches being extremely lightweight, but the Whitepearl felt like it had some substance to it. While DOXA uses forged carbon for the external case, the inner chamber is made out of titanium to withstand the depths this watch can go to. Also the deployant clasp is made out of PVD coated stainless steel, which adds a bit of weight. Altogether the SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl weights 99 grams, not heavy by any means of the imagination, but not as lightweight as I had first thought. In the water, this would make no difference at all, but on wrist it is noticeable.



Now let’s talk about what makes a DOXA SUB a DOXA SUB… the bezel. Everyone is used to a 60 minute dive bezel, basically you rotate the bezel to the position of the minute hand and as the minute hand advances you know how long your dive has been by where the minute hand is on the bezel. On the SUB 300 Carbon this traditional function is found on the inner bezel and works the same as with every other diver.

The real magic for the SUB is the outer bezel. This bezel has numerals that represent depth in meters. While the bezel with dual scales might seem complicated at first, it’s actually a very easy system to use. Like the normal dive time inner bezel, first you align the outer bezel with the current minute hand position. You then locate the depth you want to dive at, say 30 meters. When the minute hand reaches 30 meters on the bezel, it is now time to start your ascent, in this case it would be after 25 minutes at 30 meters. Other examples would be 5 minutes at 60 meters and 50 minutes at 20 meters. The scale is very easy to use and it makes a ton of sense as to why the DOXA SUB has had as much success as it has with recreational divers, especially before there were dive computers.



The bezel which is also made out of forged carbon is strongly grooved and can easily be operated with dive gloves given how much grip it has. The bezel action is extremely accurate and it takes 120 clicks to complete a full rotation. There is also a very satisfying click with each turn of the bezel.

The dial of the Whitepearl is all business with a strong contrasting white dial under black hands and indices. The Whitepearl forgoes the traditional orange minute hand found on a lot of the DOXA SUB models, but still maintains high contrast of a black hand over a white background when in good lighting, and a black hand over a fully lumed dial in low light conditions. The hour, minute and seconds hand along with the markers for each five minute period are coated with blue Super-Luminova that contrasts well with the fully lumed green Super-Luminova dial.



The dial is finished out with “DOXA automatic” text found at 10 o’clock and “SUB 300 whitepearl” found at 4 o’clock. There is also a white backed date window at 3 o’clock. The dial of the SUB 300 Whitepearl pretty much only gives you everything you’d need on a dive. I wouldn’t miss the date window here and feel it not being there might make the dial just that much more cohesive. I guess a lot of times a dive watch is taken on vacation, so having a date could be handy though.

Talking a look at the side of the Sub 300 Carbon Whitepearl you get a really interesting look at the watch. The profile almost looks like a standard round watch was incased in the thinner cushion case that bends to the shape of your wrist. It’s a really interesting design and kind of reminds me of a reserve of the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet where it looks like a octagonal Royal Oak was sandwiched between a round watch.



The screw down crown has the DOXA fish logo in white on its top. Unscrewing the crown allows the movement to be manually wound. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you to set the day. Pulling the crown out to it’s finally position allows you to set the time. Pushing the crown back in and screwing it in is done in a snap.

Flipping the watch over shows off the solid case back with the DOXA sailboat logo. The case back is screw down and made out of titanium. Most watch companies choose to add a lot of additional information about the watch such as water resistance to the case back, but DOXA just leaves it to the sailboat logo and DOXA text. It’s a nice all business approach to a case back. I shudder to think about this watch having an exhibition case back. Also if you haven’t guessed by the name, the DOXA SUB 300 Whitepearl offers 300 meters of water resistance.



Under the case back is a Swiss made ETA 2824-2 automatic movement beating away at 28,800 vph (4Hz) that offers 38 hours of power reserve. The movement is a certified COSC chronometer that promises -4 to +6 seconds a day of accuracy. On our timegrapher the Sub 300 reported +4 seconds per day, which is in chronometer specs. DOXA also takes the extra step of decorating the movement, although chances are you’ll never see it.

The version of the Whitepearl I received came on a black rubber strap. The strap fits tightly into the case and gives the look of an integrated bracelet. The lug width is 20 mm and the strap has no taper to it, also being 20 mm at the black PVD coated stainless steel deployant clasp. The clasp has pushers on each side to release the clasp as well as a matching set of pushers to operate the fine adjustments. The fine adjustments offer around 20 mm of additional length to the strap. More than enough for adjusting a little bit on a hot day, but also enough to accommodate a wetsuit. The strap was a little too large for me when inside an air conditioned space, but just fine when outdoors in the summer heat. The only way to size down the strap would be to cut it, but I wasn’t going to do that on a watch that was loaned to me.



One little nitpick with the clasp is its weight. If DOXA would have gone with a titanium clasp, or better yet a forged carbon clasp, the watch would have been much more lightweight. With the carbon head of the watch, you can definitely feel that the strap is bottom heavy with the stainless steel clasp. On a standard stainless steel SUB 300 you probably wouldn’t notice this, but you do on the forged carbon pieces.

The exterior dimensions of the DOXA SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl are 42.5 mm case diameter, 13.5 case thickness and 45.2 mm lug to lug. I typically tend to prefer watches over 50 mm lug to lug and given its rather small lug to lug I thought the SUB 300 would wear extremely small. In reality the flare of the rubber strap and case matching black color made the SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl actually look OK on my 7.25 inch wrist. I also feel that people with much smaller wrists than mine could pull off the SUB 300 Carbon with no problem. I really feel the case size of 42.5 mm scares people off, when in reality the watch wears much smaller.



The watch was well balanced on wrist and never tended to favor either side of my wrist. Like mentioned earlier, the watch strap was a little big, so I wore it a little bit higher on my wrist to make up for it. When the temperature heated up, the watch fit better in my usual wrist position though. The SUB 300 Carbon never gave me the slightest bit of wrist fatigue either.

The DOXA SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl didn’t get too much attention when being worn out. I feel a lot of that had to do with the black rubber strap, if the watch was on the white strap, I feel this watch would attract a lot of attention. I have a Jaeger-LeCoultre diver that while on its black rubber and titanium bracelet or any more boring rubber strap never gets looked at. When I put a white Horus rubber strap on it, everything changed and I got constant remarks about the watch.



The SUB 300 Carbon accompanied me on daily errands as well as a few times out for dinner and drinks. It fit in very well with my usual dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers as well. It was fun wearing the watch at night when the crazy fully lumed dial could shine after getting a bit of charge from indoor lighting. Most people I showed the watch to were impressed by the pattern of the forged carbon case as well as the lumed dial. Like I’ve said in other reviews, the DOXA SUB having a nice origin story also makes it fun to educate people about.

The DOXA SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl comes in at just over four thousand dollars at $4,090. For that price you’re getting a lot of heritage wrapped up in a high-tech forged carbon case and a fully lumed dial. The use of an ETA movement is interesting, especially since just about everyone, including other DOXAs, has moved on to using Sellita movements. That fact alone is really interesting since DOXA is not a part of the Swatch Group which owns ETA.



At $4,000 there is no lack of competing dive watches to compare to the DOXA SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl. While the original dive watches of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and Rolex Submariner are in a much higher price bracket now, lots of other brands offer great dive watches in this price range.

Omega offers their most basic Seamaster Professional in a 42 mm stainless steel case on a rubber strap for a slightly higher $5,600. Omega was also one of the pioneering brands when it came to dive watches and the Seamaster Pro is a highly respected dive watch. While nearly 50% more expensive than the DOXA, the Seamaster Pro does offer an in-house Omega caliber with 55 hours of power reserve. The Seamaster Pro doesn’t come in carbon, but more exotic materials like ceramic drastically raise the price of the Omega.



At $3,850 the Tudor Pelagos FXD comes in a little bit cheaper than the DOXA SUB 300 Carbon. This 42 mm forged carbon watch also includes an in-house Tudor caliber with 70 hours of power reserve. The Pelagos FXD is a more traditional diver with a round case and single divers bezel. The watch is only available with a blue dial, which might not be for everyone as well. Tudor’s original Submariner from 1954 also established a long history in dive watches for the brand just like DOXA has with the SUB.

Finally we can look at the Squale T-183 Forged Carbon watch. The T-183 is the modern take of the classic Squale 1521 complete with its Van Buren case, just like the SUB 300 Carbon is a modern take on the classic DOXA SUB. The forged carbon case also measured 42 mm like the SUB 300 Carbon and inside beats the Sellita SW 200-1, which was made as an alternative to the ETA movement found in the DOXA. At $1,810 the Squale T-183 offers tremendous value for the money, but while Squale was very important to the development of early divers, including the Fifty Fathoms, most people today simply don’t recognize the brand. Fun fact, Squale actually used to make some cases for DOXA in the early days of the DOXA SUB.



The Omega, Tudor and Squale are all great alternatives to the DOXA SUB 300 Whitepearl, but none really have the distinct design that the DOXA has. DOXA fans are extremely loyal to the brand and the unique case shape along with the dual purpose bezel really makes the SUB 300 a special watch. The addition of the watch now being crafted out of forged carbon and boosting a fully luminous dial is just icing on the cake.

Is the DOXA SUB 300 Whitepearl for me? Probably not, based solely on size alone. The just over 45 mm lug to lug is just too small for how I like watches to fit on my wrist. I know this is an extremely unpopular opinion, so much so that DOXA released a smaller version of the SUB called the SUB 200. I do feel that the SUB 1500T might be a better fit for me with its larger case dimensions of 45 x 47 mm.



That being said, would I recommend the DOXA SUB 300 Whitepearl to others? Yes, of course I would. The main thing I’d stress though if to spend some time with the watch in the metal. I feel the case shape and small appearance of the dial might initially turn people off from the SUB 300… but just like me, after a little bit of time with the watch I got used to and started to appreciate it. Like I stated earlier, $4,000 for a divers watch opens up a lot of doors and gives seemingly endless choices. DOXA’s charm and legacy with the SUB does justify the price though.

I would really like to thank DOXA for sending us this SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl to review. The watch was a joy to wear and review, and now I really want to see if the SUB 1500T fills my personal bias of larger watches better. Hopefully DOXA can get one to us soon to check out.



For more information about the SUB 300 Carbon Whitepearl please visit : DOXA

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: 822.70.011.23

Retail Price: $4,090

Case Size: 42 mm

Lug to Lug: 45.2 mm

Thickness: 13.5 mm

Weight: 99 Grams

Case Material:  Forged Carbon

Bezel:  Forged Carbon

Strap: Rubber with PVD Coated Stainless Steel Deployant Clasp with Micro Adjustment

Movement: ETA 2824-2 COSC Chronometer

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date

Power Reserve: 38 Hours

Water Resistance: 300 Meters